Ghost Town (21 page)

“Look! Hey,
look
!” Avery shouted. “There's the resort.”

Big Sky Resort looked like a sparkling jewel set in the snow.

“Ohhhh! The lights on the snow are so romantic. It's beautiful!” Charlotte cried.

Maeve wanted to see, but she couldn't bear to open her eyes until she felt the helicopter land.

“Oh,” Maeve gasped as the door opened and the icy cold air hit her face. It was a most welcoming and refreshing sensation. Maeve was relieved—and extremely thankful— that she hadn't thrown up. But her discomfort was immediately forgotten when she saw Katani and Isabel, and right behind them, Nik and Sam. Maeve rushed to her friends, hugging them first before gathering everyone into a group hug. It was wonderful to be reunited again.

“I can't believe how beautiful this is!” Maeve exclaimed, looking at the huge window in their suite. “High ceilings! Shiny wood floors! Stone fireplaces! And the bathroom! Did you see the bathroom, Charlotte?” Maeve asked, her voice echoing as she ducked her head into the enormous washroom.

“I saw it.” Charlotte nodded, although she couldn't quite understand why Maeve was so excited by a bathroom.

“I swear the bathroom alone is the size of my dad's whole apartment!” Maeve marveled.

“A step above the Hotel de Paris?” Charlotte grinned.

“I feel like a princess.” Maeve twirled around with arms in the air before flopping back on her bed. “And this princess is going to sleep well tonight!”

“Yeah! My back still hurts from camping out in the
hotel living room,” Avery added. “Let's go hang out in the hot tub.”

“I'm in!” Charlotte agreed.

“Get Nik and Sam to come over!” Maeve said, rushing to grab her bathing suit.

“I'll call their room!” Katani picked up the phone.

Mr. Ramsey turned on the hot tub, while the girls changed into their suits. They tiptoe-ran across the cold balcony, dropped their towels on the bench, and eased into the steamy, bubbling water.

“Ahhhh! This feels so
luxurious
!” Maeve squealed.

Moments later there was a knock at the door. Mr. Ramsey let the twins in, and they joined the group in the hot tub.

“All right, girls.” Katani rested her arm on the side of the tub and turned to her friends. “Spill it. What in the world have you been doing since we last saw you?”

“Did you see any ghosts?” Isabel wanted to know.

Avery, Charlotte, and Maeve shared a look and giggled.

“One or two,” Avery answered.

Maeve launched into a very lively,
slightly
exaggerated story about the days and nights they had spent in a real live ghost town.

Avery rolled her eyes when Maeve made it sound like she had single-handedly solved the mystery of Jasper Tucker and Amaryllis. “Maeve, Charlotte was the one that found all those diaries and figured out that Jasper Tucker was JT.”

“I suppose,” Maeve admitted. “But I did predict the
whole romance thing. You gotta give me that.”

Charlotte was so happy to be hanging in the hot tub with the BSG that she didn't care if Maeve took ALL the credit for solving the mystery.

“We had a sleepover in Nik and Sam's room . . . with room service and everything!” Isabel announced.

“It was fab,” Katani agreed.

“I hear you guys have sleepovers all the time in Char-lotte's Tower,” Nik said.

“It's not my Tower, it's our Tower,” Charlotte corrected. “As far as I'm concerned, it belongs to all the BSG.”

“I hope we'll get to go to a real BSG sleepover the next time we're in Boston,” Sam said.

“You better!” Maeve grinned. “You guys have to meet Marty. And we'll bring you to Montoya's for the best hot chocolate you've ever had!”

“It feels like you girls have been here the whole time,” Nik said to Maeve, Avery, and Charlotte.

“I know what you mean.” Charlotte nodded. “It's like the past few days are a blur and all that matters is we're together again in this sweet suite!”

“Hey, look! It's snowing again!” Avery exclaimed. “I can't believe I'm in my bathing suit in the snow.”

Everyone tilted their heads back and tried to catch the falling snowflakes on their tongues.

“I hope the snow doesn't delay that vet lady,” Avery said, staring up into the dark sky.

“What vet lady?” Isabel asked.

“JT takes care of these abandoned wolf pups and— ahhh, cut it out!”

Maeve was waving her arms to stop Avery from talking, but she ended up splashing the whole group by mistake.

“Maeve!” Katani screeched.

“Sorry, it's just that we were supposed to keep it a secret—remember, Ave?” Maeve asked.

“Keep what a secret?” Isabel wondered.

“Next time, say it, don't spray it, Maeve. Just promise not to tell anyone else,” Avery said to the others.

“We promise!” they chorused.

Avery, Maeve, and Charlotte took turns describing the sounds of the wolves howling in the night and helping JT feed the pups.

“The red wolf from Louisiana and Arkansas was down to a population of just eleven,” Nik reported. “We learned about it in school. But they were able to get the population up and return them to the wild . . . mostly in the Appalachians.”

“Nik and I love animals,” Sam confided. “It makes me really mad to see them being treated badly.”

Nik and Sam shared a long, thoughtful look and then nodded in unison.

“We'll have to check with our parents—” Nik started to say.

“—but maybe we can donate some of the proceeds from our concert—” Sam continued.

“—to a wildlife refuge that rescues animals—” Nik went on.

“—especially wolves,” Sam finished. “Hey, that's amazing!” Maeve exclaimed. “You guys
know what each other is thinking without even talking!”

“No, what's more amazing is that you guys are going to donate money to help the poor wolves. That's incredibly generous of you!” Avery gave each of the twins a high five.

“Look guys, I'm getting wrinkles,” Maeve announced, holding up her water-logged fingers to the group. “I think it's time to get out. Dibs on first shower!”

“Avery, where are you going?” Katani demanded as she watched Avery pull on her snow boots. “It's freezing outside and almost pitch black.”

Avery threw on a neck warmer and grabbed her ski jacket. “The snow looks so fluffy and inviting. I need to check out the dogsledding ASAP. Did you see the write-up about it in the info packet?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Isabel replied. “I thought that'd be your kind of thing.”

“Come on, guys. It's time to go exploring,” Avery said with a mischievous grin.

“But . . .” Katani protested, looking longingly at the comfy leather couch.

“Come on! How many times do you get the chance to see a real dogsled team?” Avery asked, throwing Katani's jacket on top of her head.

“I can't believe I'm doing this,” Maeve groaned as she started pulling on warm clothes. “I didn't think I'd want to even look at snow for a very long time.”

“We only have two days left, so we gotta make the
most of it. I want to see those dogs NOW!”

“I'm in,” Charlotte chimed, wrapping a scarf around her neck. “Let me just leave a note for Dad.”

“What's taking you guys so long?” Avery bounced up and down impatiently. “All right, I'm out. Meet you guys in front of the kennel.”

Avery stopped short when she saw a majestic group of dogs hitched up at the kennel gate. “Wow! These guys are amazing,” she exclaimed.

The mush master smiled. “Let me introduce you,” she said. “Over here we have the Siberian huskies: Juno, Sasha, Silver, Nikki, Angel, and Kyra. And on this side we have the Alaskan malamutes: Storm, Tasha, Misha, Tundra, Max, and Cody. And I'm Marissa.”

“Wow,” was all Avery could croak out as she admired the gorgeous dogs. She still considered Marty to be the best dog in the world, but these dogs were very impressive.

“Are you thinking of going on a dogsled trek?” Marissa asked.

Avery nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. We're here for a couple more days and that's the only thing I HAVE to do.”

“With six dogs pulling, they can hit twenty miles per hour,” Marissa told her.

“Really? That's pretty fast!”

“Yeah, you have to hang on around the corners,” Marissa told them.

By then, the rest of the girls had caught up and Avery set about introducing her friends to the dogs.

“. . . And that one's Cody,” Avery rattled off.

“We'll have to bring the camera tomorrow and take lots of pictures for Marty,” Charlotte suggested. “Hey, Ave . . . where are you going?”

“Back to the suite! The sooner we get to bed, the sooner we can get up and hang out with those pups!” she called back, tearing off her hat and gloves as she sprinted toward the main building.

Pinch me,” Katani said to Isabel as they walked into the greenroom behind Big Sky's Missouri Ballroom. “I can't believe our luck!”

“I know. Who else do we know that's been invited
backstage
at a big concert?” Isabel asked. “We're totally VIP.”

The twins had asked Katani and Isabel to meet them backstage and help them get ready for their performance. Maeve had pouted for fifteen whole minutes when she found out, but the excitement of the concert got the better of her and now she was happily waiting for the show to start from her front row seat.

Nik and Sam paused their vocal warm-up when they noticed Katani and Isabel standing at the door. “Hey, girls! Perfect timing . . . did we tie these scarves right?” Nik pointed to the Kgirl accessory that she'd looped through her jeans.

“You girls look amazing,” Katani said. “You don't even need our help, but we're here for you . . . ICFE.”

“ICFE?” Isabel looked puzzled.

“In case of fashion emergency,” Katani explained.

“Izzy, we were hoping you would come up onstage and help us sing ‘Every Little Step' just like you did at rehearsal,” Sam urged sweetly.

Isabel's cheeks immediately turned crimson. “Uh, thanks for the offer, but I don't think I'm cut out for the stage. Rehearsal is one thing, but . . . did you see all those people out there?!”

“Okay, okay! We won't make you,” Nik said with a grin. “But just remember, we want you up there!”

“Break a leg.” Katani linked her arm through Nik's, who linked her arm through Isabel's, who linked her arm through Sam's.

“Thanks for everything!” the twins cried.

Isabel looked at her watch. “We'd better get to our seats before the show starts. See you after!”

“Can you believe these seats?” Maeve asked Isabel and Katani as they sat down.

“That's about the two hundredth time Maeve has said that.” Charlotte grinned.

At that moment the lights went down and everyone cheered as Nik and Sam walked onstage. The BSG barely sat down during the entire concert. Mostly they were up on their feet—dancing, singing along, and clapping like crazy.

“We'd like to dedicate this song to our new friends Katani, Isabel, Maeve, Avery, and Charlotte. We love you guys!” Nik and Sam pointed to the front row.

“They say I'm a wild child . . .” the song began.

The BSG cheered for their favorite song.

“‘Old Enough' rocks!” Avery shouted.

When the twins took their final bows and exited the stage, the BSG finally flopped back in their seats.

“I'm exhausted!” Maeve exclaimed. “But it was TOTALLY worth it.”

Just then an usher handed Mr. Ramsey a note. “Too bad you're so tired.” Mr. Ramsey folded the note and put it in his pocket. “Because we've been invited to a VIP after-party. But if you don't think you're up for it . . .”

“Me, tired?!” Maeve asked as she popped to her feet. “I'm wide awake! Take me to the party!”

Mr. Ramsey led the way down the main corridor of Big Sky Resort and into a glitzy room decked out in fancy tablecloths, yellow roses, and twinkling lights.

“Look! There are so many famous people here!” Maeve cried.

“Over there! Is that . . . ? I love her!” Isabel pointed.

“This is the best day of my life,” Maeve declared. “I can't believe all the celebrities I've seen now!”

Nik and Sam's mom rushed over to welcome the girls. “I'm glad you could make it. Katani, the girls' outfits are inspired! You do great work. I bet you'll be a top designer.”

“Thank you. That's my goal.” Katani nodded.

“Is
that
Megan Elizabeth and Liza May from the Rocking Cowgirls?” Maeve knew it was rude, but she couldn't help pointing.

“Yes. Nik and Sam were so excited they showed up! Some of the country stars were touring in the area and they stopped to check out the concert,” Nik and Sam's
mom told them. “Now, please don't be shy . . . go have something to eat.”

“Thanks!” Avery called. She was already halfway to the buffet.

It had been a long day, and Charlotte's mind was still whirling even when she was getting ready for bed. She remembered that the twins had asked her to give them information about JT and the wolf pups. Nik, Sam, and the crew were leaving early the next day to continue their tour. Charlotte wasn't sure she would see them in the morning, so she quickly jotted down the information and slipped out the door to tiptoe to the twins' suite. Charlotte looked at her watch . . . 10:21 p.m. She thought it might be too late to knock, so she just slid the note under their door.

“Charlotte! What are you doing?” The booming voice in the empty hallway startled her.